Manifest Destiny & the Lewis and Clark Expedition
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Manifest Destiny and the Lewis and Clark Expedition Overview Students will examine the concept of Manifest Destiny as it relates to the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition through discussion, reading, and the examination of artwork and maps. Students will demonstrate their understanding of this content in a creative writing assignment in which they assume the persona of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and/or a Native American and create inferred journal entries. Grade 8 North Carolina Essential Standards • 8.H.3.1 - Explain how migration and immigration contributed to the development of North Carolina and the United States from colonization to contemporary times (e.g. westward movement, African slavery, Trail of Tears, the Great Migration and Ellis and Angel Island). • 8.H.3.2 - Explain how changes brought about by technology and other innovations affected individuals and groups in North Carolina and the United States (e.g. advancements in transportation, communication networks and business practices). • 8.H.3.3 - Explain how individuals and groups have influenced economic, political and social change in North Carolina and the United States. • 8.G.1.1 -Explain how location and place have presented opportunities and challenges for the movement of people, goods, and ideas in North Carolina and the United States. Essential Questions • What is “Manifest Destiny,” and how did the US government act on this philosophy? • What was the Louisiana Purchase, and what impact/effect did it have on the United States of America? • How did the Louisiana Purchase affect the Natives living in the area? • Who were Lewis and Clark, and what effect did their expedition have? • How do Native American perspectives on the Lewis and Clark expedition differ from European perspectives? • Who was Sacagawea, and how did she impact the Lewis and Clark expedition? Materials • “Manifest Destiny and the Lewis & Clark Expedition” Power Point accompaniment, located in the Database of K12 Resources in PDF format o To view this PDF as a projectable presentation, save the file, click “View” in the top menu bar of the file, and select “Full Screen Mode o To request an editable PPT version of this presentation, send a request to [email protected] • “Discovering Lewis and Clark,” article from Teaching Tolerance, attached Duration 90 minutes (split over two periods) 1 Procedure Day 1 Manifest Destiny 1. As a warm up, project slide 2 of the accompanying PPT, which is an image of the painting American Progress. (Do not yet tell students the title.) Discuss: • What do you see here? (Ensure students note all pieces of the painting, including symbols, objects, people, environment, etc.) • What location is pictured? What evidence makes you think this? • What time period do you think this represents and what evidence makes you think this? • Who might the female figure in the white represent? What is her purpose here? • What might the telegraph lines that she is leaving behind symbolize? • Describe the varying types of transportation you see. • Describe the different types of people and cultures you see. • Why do you think the animals and Natives are fleeing? • What message is the artist trying to convey? • What title would you give this painting and why? 2. Project slide 3 and ask students to share anything they already know (or think they may know) about the phrase Manifest Destiny. Facilitate the understanding that Manifest Destiny was a phrase used in the 1800s expressing the belief that the United States had a mission and right to expand its territory, spreading its form of democracy and freedom. Return to slide 2 and ask students to reconsider the painting with Manifest Destiny in mind and discuss: • What evidence in this painting illustrates Manifest Destiny? • Why would Manifest Destiny be a positive thing for the early American government? • Who might be impacted negatively by Manifest Destiny and why? • Reconsider the Native Americans that are fleeing in the painting. How might they feel about America’s belief in “Manifest Destiny”? • How did Native American culture view land ownership and “expansion”? • Predict what impact Manifest Destiny had on Native Americans in the west, as well as in North • Carolina. • Do you think the American government still inhabits the philosophy of Manifest Destiny today? Explain. • (Tell students that the title of this painting is American Progress.) Why do you think this is titled American Progress? 3. Once students have shared their thoughts, explain that this painting is a representation of Manifest Destiny. Here Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads civilization westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she travels. The different economic activities of the pioneers are highlighted and, especially, the changing forms of transportation. The American Indians and wild animals flee, knowing that this means trouble for them. Louisiana Purchase 4. Next, project slide 4, which shows a map of the Louisiana Purchase. Discuss: • What does this map represent? • What do you already know about the Louisiana Purchase? • Why do you think the United States government wanted to purchase this land from France? • Facilitate discussion of Thomas Jefferson’s desire to protect the US and help western farmers by sending Robert Livingston and James Monroe to buy New Orleans and nearby land from the French, who were under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte. 2 • Notice the boarders of the final purchase. How did acquiring this land impact the US’s physical size? • Facilitate discussion of the fact that Livingston and Monroe paid $15 million for all French lands west of the Mississippi, resulting in the size of the US doubling in 1803.) • Looking at today’s map of the United States as compared to the Louisiana Purchase, which states (as they are outlined today) were part of the purchase? • What impact and effect did this purchase have on the United States? What impact and effect did it have on Natives living on the “purchased” land? • What natural resources do you think the United States acquired as a result of this purchase? • Based on the fact that Thomas Jefferson initiated this acquisition of western land, how would you infer that he feels about the concept of Manifest Destiny and why? • Imagine the year is 1803. You are Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase has just been made. What would your next plan of action be in terms of this purchase? What would you do next regarding this land? The Lewis and Clark Expedition 5. After hearing student ideas of what Jefferson’s next steps should be, explain that he sent explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to study the landforms, plants, animals, natural resources, and people of the newly purchased land. Between 1804 and 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, a party of over 33 explorers, traveled through the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase, creating maps and keeping detailed notes of the region. Project slide 5 which pictures Route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and discuss: • Where did Lewis and Clark’s route begin and end? What states did they explore? • Consider what western land, life, technology, people, etc. would have been like in 1804-1806. What do you imagine Lewis and Clark experienced as they traveled? • What effect do you think the Lewis and Clark expedition had on Native Americans living in the areas purchased and explored? 6. Project images of the Lewis and Clark expedition, such as those available on slides 6-9, to encourage students to think further about Lewis and Clark’s experiences. Also encourage students to consider Native American perspectives who encountered those on the Lewis and Clark expedition. 7. Next, project slide 10 and explain the assignment, “You are Meriwether or William:” • Continue to imagine and infer what the Lewis and Clark expedition would have been like by assuming the persona of either Meriwether Lewis or William Clark. Write three journal entries describing your experiences during your exploration. Your journal entries must be at least a paragraph each and: o Begin with the date on which you are writing (sometime between 1804-1806) and end with your chosen identity’s signature. o Contain details about where you are, your impression of the environment, your experiences, your feelings, exciting discoveries, interesting meetings with Natives, frightening encounters, etc. • Each entry must be different and creative, yet based in the realities that would have existed in this time period. You may do further research for ideas and to ensure accuracy. • Your journal entries must also contain at least one drawing. This can represent an illustration of the expedition, a particular event or discovery, a self-portrait, etc. • Be creative and have fun! You will be sharing these in class 8. Allow students to begin brainstorming and writing in class. You may also want to have Internet access available for additional research. Close class by sharing slide 11, which contains an actual journal entry from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Discuss: 3 • What were the weather conditions like as Clark wrote this entry? What type of shelter and provisions do you imagine Clark had in order to protect himself against the cold wind and other inclement weather? • According to the entry, how do the explorers get needed resources, such as food? • What do you imagine would have been most difficult about such a journey? What would have been most exciting? • How do you imagine Lewis and Clark viewed the idea of Manifest Destiny? • If you were living in 1804 and had the opportunity, would you go on the Lewis and Clark Expedition? Explain. • Do you see any mistakes in the entry? (Point out the grammatical mistakes in the journal entry. Clarify your expectations for the journal entries students turn in with regards to grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) Day 2 9.